Someone very special turns 5. Wait until you see what she got for her birthday!

October seems to be our birthday month, with three out of four weekend family gatherings. Sunday we did double duty. Sophia came close to being born on her daddy’s birthday. Anthony’s birthday was on Sunday, and Sophia turns five on Tuesday, the 23rd!

We all asked Sophia what she wanted for her birthday. She was very non-committal. If pressed to give a response, she usually said, “Surprise me.”

She was ready for a big girl bike without training wheels. She wanted her own jewelry box. She asked for nightgowns, “Because I get hot.” She loves books.

But she gave us the biggest surprise of all!

Yep! That’s a pretty pink cast, though, isn’t it?

I wasn’t completely in favor of her starting school, you know. And I’m now convinced that running on a playground is hazardous.

It’s a good thing for Sophia that her mommy and daddy are in charge.

But for now, NO soccer, Tae-Kwon-Do–recess–bike riding…

An active five-year old will be sitting things out for a few weeks.

Maybe I’ll be able to have a few more overnights while her busy date book has some openings?

69 thoughts on “Someone very special turns 5. Wait until you see what she got for her birthday!”

Ginny Rood

I don’t know why she can’t do all those things with a cast, although her soccer opponents might not like it. I learned to ride a bike when I was 4 1/2 and had a broken collar bone. My arm was in a sling, but I took it out of the sling when I needed to do something important. Sophia is adorable. You know how lucky I think you are to have two granddaughters.

Hi Ginny! How fun to see you pop up here today. I broke my arm in first grade at San Gabriel Christian…and I don’t remember being very restricted either. But now the schools and organized sport don’t want the liability–the children have to sit everything out! Fortunately for Sophia, she can have a friend sit with her and in Kindergarten, the other children seem to think this is a special privilege! Ha! You come see me more often and we can share the girls a little bit. 🙂

I think that’s so fun that you, the artist, Sharyn, could have a purple cast! No more plain plaster casts! 🙂 Yes, Sophia is adjusting very well, and I think we’ve been very fortunate that she made it all the way to five years old before she had an “emergency” of any kind!

Thank you so much, Tricia. I will do that! I bought a little globe just today because I want to start teaching her to begin identifying the different continents. I will have to tell her about my friend Tricia. She’ll like that!

Birthday greetings to your five-year-old, Debra. She doesn’t look like she’s letting the mishap spoil her birthday and, as Ginny says, you’ll be surprised what she will manage to do while wearing a cast.:-) Kids are so resilient!

Thank you, Perpetua. I think she’s doing very well with her cast. It’s unfortunate that schools and youth sports organizations are so concerned with liability that the children cannot just modify their play. Even at school she cannot do anything more than sit on a bench with her books and a friend. No recess at all. She is handling it well, but boy, oh boy, is she a wriggly little thing by the end of the day! 🙂

Gosh, that’s hard on a healthy, active five-year-old, Debra. 😦 I can understand not doing any organised sports with a cast, but not to be able to play with the others at playtime – that seems excessively cautious. Sigh…

I don’t know, Debra. Sophia doesn’t look like the kind of Birthday Princess that is going to let a little thing like a pink cast slow her down. Her tattoos speak volumes. 🙂
I hope her birthday was a special one and this is a year full of (good) surprises for her.

Ha! John, I’m so accustomed to those silly tattoos that I don’t even see them anymore. I asked her the other day how long before they would wear off, and she told me, “Never.” So it could go either way, couldn’t it. She will either always want body art, or she’ll get it out of her system now. I’m hoping for the latter, of course! 🙂 Thanks for the well wishes. She’s a sweetie!

Grand children are what keep us young in our older years… a source of pleasure and pride and the beauty of them is when you get tired… you can give them back…. I have no bigger a pleasure than taking my Grandson (6) on a nature walk both of us with our cameras… a pretend cuppa with my one Granddaughter (3) … they are all good times that melt ones heart and make you realise life is too short…

Isn’t the nail polish great, Andra? I’m glad my daughter is attentive to the little things like that. Sophia and her Karina both love manicures! I talked to her after school and she has had a fun birthday! 🙂

Just look at the darling girl, all pretty in pink and five years old! As others have said, Sophia doesn’t look like the type of gal who will let a cast slow her down. Still, overnights with Grandma sound like just the thing to do when one is five and in a cast.

Thank you so much, Penny. I can’t believe Sophia is already five. It went so quickly, as you are finding out yourself! When she was born Aimee was still working full time and that’s when I went to working part time so that I could spend two to three days a week with her. That only lasted for a while before Aimee could change her schedule, but it was a delightful time. Now I do have to work around her own busy schedule. Ha! So I’m going to take full advantage of the time she has with sports on hold! 🙂

Thanks, Deb. She’s a little proud of the pink cast, I think. She may be fine until it begins to “itch.” I’m glad I could share a couple of photos with you. She’s growing so fast. I remember when your “little people” were this age. 🙂

Happy birthday Sophia! You’re absolutely adorable and I can see why you’re so special to your grandma! Love your cast and crown too – I’m sure you had a very happy day! 😀 Daisy sends you puppy kisses too!

Oh Sophia would just love Daisy! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes! I will have to show her a picture of Daisy. She and her sister Karina would find some of Daisy’s antics really funny. I hadn’t thought before to do that, but I’m going to! She’s learning to read, and your posts would be fun. 🙂

Thank you, Martin. I don’t know who the first person was to market the artfully colored casts, but it makes all the difference. I think she’s rather proud of her pink arm! She’s had a lot of attention this past week, between the arm and a birthday, so right now, she’s feeling quite powerful! 🙂

Thank you for commenting on Sophia’s pretty tiara, Charlie. Sometimes she seems so grown up to me, but when the next day she wanted to wear her tiara to Starbucks, I remembered what a little girl she still is! 🙂 They do grow up too fast, though, don’t they!

My goodness.. she is just the most adorable little five year old!! What a lovely birthday present that little sweetie must have been! At least her cast is hot-pink.. I love the photo of her holding it up for you to photograph! I hope you get lots of snuggle time together!! Happy Birthday, Sophia!!!! xxx

Thank you, Barbara, for birthday wishes for Sophia. She and her little sister will spend the night with us on Friday. I will be enjoying her “time off” from other activity! Yes, the cast is a hot-pink hit! 🙂

Yes, Claire…tomorrow it will be one week with the broken arm. Children heal so quickly, she’ll be back in action soon! I’m glad I could share the photo. She was very color coordinated…I am hopeless in noticing that kind of thing, but her mommy does very well! 🙂

It was so appropriate that the party story had a Disney birthday pin for the movie, “Brave.” She had been very brave over the few days before her party! I hope she will keep the pin, but she is going to end up wearing out the tiara. She wears it everywhere. That’s when I’m reminded she is still a little girl! Thanks for stopping by, Meg. I’m glad I could share with you! 🙂

Yes, Kate, our first school casualty! We had birthday fun anyway! It was a good clean break…no pins or any of the things that could have complicated the recovery, so she’ll be back in action soon! 🙂 Thanks for the birthday wishes.

I work as a teacher and in all my years of supervising children on the playground equipment only one child broke his arm. A teacher I work with broke her arm while we were on a field trip last week. She was accidentally tripped by a student who lost her balance and fell to the ground. It happens. I love the colour Sophia picked for her cast! Very perky and stylish.

Oh my, Thea! I feel so badly for the teacher who broke her arm! At Sophia’s age she only has the cast for a month. An adult has a much longer recovery period, I’m sure! It does happen! Yes, she does love having a pink cast! They are so smart to give the children a little control on at least that much–fashion and design! 🙂

The teacher I referred to chose a purple cast. It looks quite stylish with her outfits. I took her out for a coffee the other day after work because I could she she was quite tired trying to function with the cast. Of course it was her right arm and of course she is right-handed making everyday tasks a challenge. Her husband has to blow dry her hair and she can’t drive. ~Thea

Love Sophia’s pink cast! Now she just needs a little bling added…..LOL!! And, I don’t think it will slow her own too much – kids are so resilient! I remember running on our “asphalt” playground in 2nd grade, fell, and chipped half of my upper permanent front tooth! Darn playgrounds!! LOL. Always harder on we moms/grandmoms, etc. than our kids. Thank goodness they take it all in stride!! She’s adorable….hard to believe she’s 5!!

Thank you for stopping by and commenting! I can’t believe Sophia is already five, and now that she’s in Kindergarten she seems even more grown up to me! It’s all going too fast! 🙂 She is doing well, and can’t wait to get back to full recess and all her other activities. I broke my arm in first grade and I still remember how good it felt when that cast came off! 🙂

Thank you for the compliment, Kristy! I’m glad I remind you of your mom. That’s so nice. I hope Sophia is back to her normal activity levels soon…it’s hard to keep a five-year old away from her high energy play! 🙂

Dear Debra, what a shy and bashful smile on Sophia’s face. Is she shy? Maybe with strangers. Or maybe when overwhelmed with gifts and with a pink cast. I do so hope that you have more over-nights with her because from your posts I know that being with her is joy.

I hope you know that I look forward to your postings each week. I visit blogs for an hour each day and so I get back to each blog about twice a week. I’m always happy when I find a new posting by you. You’ve helped me see California in a new say. You and Inger and her mission postings. How blessed all of us are in our blogger friends. And I do count you as a friend. Peace.

You know, Dee, you were so perceptive to notice Sophia’s shy expression. She can be a little shy. She is so bold when she plays sports or is active, but in other ways she would be happy with little attention drawn to herself. You picked up on that!

I’m so glad you enjoy reading the posts about some of my little field trips, and I really appreciate your interest in that I know how hard it is to keep up! I struggle with that, too. I also count you as a friend, Dee, and I am honored that you feel a similar connection. It’s a wonderful gift to make friends not only across the lifespan, but also across the country and around the world. I really marvel at that! I hope you continue to do well! oxo